


Sleepwalking

by lornrocks



Category: Fandom: Heroes
Genre: Dreams, Homophobia, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Plotty, Romance, Slash, So yeah, Star Trek References, Violence, but hey this won an award!, i'm pretty proud of this actually, inception references, iripoffmovies, original character death, over dramatic, petlar, pylar, sorry - Freeform, this one is also sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-11
Updated: 2010-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-16 00:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 17,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/855911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lornrocks/pseuds/lornrocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every time Peter falls asleep, his dream connects with Sylar's. This was working well for them until some members of the Company iwth a grudge decide to kidnap Peter and try to use his dreams to find Sylar- with the help of a Special with a dream walking ability. Dream-like imagery, daring escapes, rescues, drama, and more ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Dream a Dream, Lover

[](http://es.tinypic.com?ref=300sdvn)  


[](http://de.tinypic.com?ref=2wlzwvr)   


Peter's not sure how it happened, although he had a faint idea. What he knew for sure, however, was that every time he closed his eyes he'd find himself in the dream world with the one person he had seen entirely too much of.

 _"Hello Peter, fancy seeing you here," he would say, batting his eyelashes up at Peter while stirring a cup of coffee that just smelled_ so good _._

_"Are you real?"_

_"I'm offended you'd ask that."_

Peter was tired of their repartee. It had gotten past the witty and gotten to the downright comfortable and he was a little freaked out. He never had a normal conversation with the other man in his entire acquaintance and he wasn't sure he wanted to start now.

But it kept happening, night after night. Or whenever Peter bothered to sleep. And sometimes Gabriel would be flat out part of his dream's "story line", and other times they would see each other in a passing glance, as if their dreams were occurring in the same world but not near each other.

Peter was a little confused and above all, sleep deprived, but working double shifts for two weeks straight tended to do that to him, so he shrugged it off and added another shot of espresso to his drink, hoping that things would get better.

It didn't.

_"Why is this happening?" he asks, one night, on a particular evening where he caught up with Gabriel at a park that vaguely resembled Central Park, but seemed too empty to be true._

_"Beats me," he shrugs, and goes back to looking up at the clouds moving by._

_"I haven't seen you since Claire jumped." It was a statement, and Peter wasn't sure how he felt. He turned to his companion. "Do you think Parkman did something to us?"_

_Gabriel turns his head and sets his mouth in a line, as if thinking._

_"Have we been meeting like this every night since then?"_

_Peter closes his eyes and tries to think, but the dream world is too murky. He shrugs and opens his eyes._

_"Probably."_

_There's a beat of silence, and Peter can't help but notice an empty horse drawn carriage go by on its own accord. He's about to ask Gabriel if that was his idea when an arm is thrown across his shoulders and he's tugged close to the other man._

_"Are you a Star Trek fan?"_

_Peter gapes._

_"What?"_

_Gabriel ignores his companion's confusion and efforts to politely slip away from his grasp, explaining, "Vulcans have this thing called a mind meld, and soul mates can link their minds together. That's the short version."_

_Peter's brow furrows and he stares at the taller man like something weird just crawled out of his face (which at the rate the dream was dissolving into absurdity, could very well happen)._

_Gabriel smiles._

_"What I'm saying, Peter, is that maybe when you went into my head you accidentally linked us together."_

_Since that explanation actually makes sense, Peter turns to face forward and tries to figure out what the fuck he wants to do about the whole situation. He could meet up with Gabriel and see if they could break the connection. Or, and this thought was the most absurd of them all, he could leave it._

_It would be foolish for him to ignore the way that he and Gabriel had basically thought and moved in synch since escaping Parkman's prison, and even more so to deny the fact that he was feeling a whole lot less hostile towards the other man and a whole lot more amiable._

_Although if anyone overheard how much he sort of missed having Gabriel around, he'd cover it up and punch them, just for good measure._

_Peter catches Gabriel watching him out of the corner of his eye and sighs._

_"Denial is not just a river in Egypt," he murmurs, and settles back down in the bench, trying to ignore the way Gabriel practically buries his face into his hair._

So things go on and they talk but they never specifically make plans to meet up or do anything, really, and their dreams go on without them being able to control it. Some days, Peter notes, it's like when they were trapped behind the wall, just the two of them, so real it almost drives him crazy. Other days it just sort of...happens.

Some nights when Peter is too tired he falls into a dreamless sleep and awakes the next morning more tired than ever and just a little disappointed. So when he accidentally brushes past a woman with strawberry blonde hair and a dream walking ability, he has no idea what he's gotten into until he can't seem to figure out which world is real and which is a dream.

Luckily for him, Gabriel is his little indicator, meaning whenever he sees him, he's dreaming. It works out pretty well until one day, he can't find Gabriel anywhere, and he spends what feels like the next two weeks wandering around realities that he didn't even know were possible, things he couldn't even begin to fathom.

He misses his apartment, and his job, and his friends. He misses Gabriel. But he couldn't figure out how to stop this, and it scares him a little.

He wills himself to open his eyes and finds himself standing in an empty city at night. He can't see stars, or the moon, because dark clouds are covering everything. He glances up at the street lights and winces at the green lighting that seems to cover everything. He walks a bit and shivers when a gust of wind goes by. He hates the emptiness and immediately longs for the dream world where he at least had Gabriel by his side.

Scrunching his eyes shut, he reopens them and finds himself standing by a window, looking several stories down at a parking lot. Again, it's cloudy, but this time he can just barely make out the sun behind the clouds.

Standing next to him is, of course, Gabriel, looking bemused.

_"Where have you been?" Peter asks, too tired to put effort into the statement, but Gabriel motions out the window towards the moving forms that are heading towards them._

_Peter squints and leans forward, trying to discern the shapes, when he suddenly realizes exactly what he's looking at._

_"_ Zombies? _"_

_Gabriel shrugs and offers up no explanation._

_One of the zombies has reached the door to the building they were standing in, but forgot exactly what glass was and just bumps into it repeatedly._

_"So are we going to do anything about it?"_

_Gabriel seems to produce a baseball bat from nowhere and holds it up._

_"Want to go zombie hunting?" he asks, and Peter stares at the bat for some time before nodding and following the other man. He's barely made it through the door to the building when he blinks._

He finds himself in a different world when he reopens his eyes. It's a lake, around sunset, and he finds himself standing on top of a dock. He doesn't find anyone else and he vaguely wonders why, if he's dream walking, he hasn't found anyone but Gabriel and himself.

"Maybe it's because we're linked," Peter muses aloud, moving to sit down on the dock and dip his toes in the water. He sits there for what seems like an eternity but the horizon never changes and the sun never moves. Peter decides he's stuck in a time lock, where nothing changes, and that's just boring.

Laying back and closing his eyes, he tries to will himself back asleep so he can get somewhere that Gabriel is, although he doesn't want to admit that. A few dream-days later, he figures Gabriel must have fallen asleep again, and he finds him in an old university building, exact location to be determined later. It looks sort of art deco, like it was built in the twenties, and Peter can't help but shiver at the balmy feeling the building inspires in him.

_"What is with your dreams?" Peter asks, motioning vaguely around him, and Sylar shrugs._

_"I like to watch ghost hunting shows, sue me."_

_Peter doesn't know what to say so he doesn't say anything at all. He follows the other man as they wander through the building. They've gone down a set of (of course) creaky stairs and into a basement, and down through what seemed like an endless hallway into a room that looked like a mirror image of itself. Two identical wooden doors sat next to each other, and in front of them, two identical benches were facing each other._

_"That's...weird," Peter muses, touching one of the benches. Gabriel nods in agreement, and they turn to face the twin doors at the same time._

_"I'll go in one-" Peter begins, only to be interrupted with "-And I'll go in the other."_

_Peter opens the door to his left, propping it open just in case and carefully walks in. Gabriel has already went into his door, and a few seconds later, Peter hears him walk out into the hallway._

_"Anything?" Gabriel calls, and before Peter can answer, the door slams shut between them. Peter runs to it, trying to pull it open, but it won't budge, and he can hear Gabriel yelling on the other side of the door._

_Darkness and sleepiness begin to overwhelm his senses, and the last thing Peter hears before closing his eyes is a hoarse, desperate,_ "Peter!"

He bolts upright in bed and realizes with some kind of relief that he's in his own bed, in what feels like a normal day. He rolls over and squints at the clock on his bedside.

_5:30 am._

He groans and fumbles around until he finds his phone, looking to see if he missed any calls while in his seemingly endless slumber. He's a little surprised to see he has no missed calls, texts, or anything else, which he finds weird. Scrolling through his phone, he tries to call Hesam to apologize for not going to work, but gets no signal. Or anything at all.

Peter stares down at the phone in confusion and looks up. Everything seemed okay, so what was the deal?

He rolls out of the bed, not bothering to put clothes on, and stares out the window.

With some bit of horror he realizes there are no people walking around. Even at this hour, people were out jogging or getting home from the graveyard shift, but there was absolutely nothing.

Breathing carefully, Peter decides to go about his day like he normally would. Shower, breakfast, coffee, walk to work. Stand in the hospital and hope something happens. Nothing does. Drink more coffee. Walk home. Eat dinner. Stare out the window.

It's halfway through Peter staring out the window at nothing when he realizes that if this was a dream, then he should be able to control it.

He closes his eyes and reopens them, finding himself standing in a hotel room suite in some city he's not even sure of, leaning against a counter. Staring back at him in the mirror is his own face, except instead of the tired, raggedy person he was when he went to sleep, he's clean shaven, hair freshly trimmed, and looking healthy.

He walks out of the room and sees a familiar silhouette looking out the window. At his approach, Gabriel turns around smiles, shaking his head slightly.

_"You really have to learn to control this, Pete. I was getting worried."_

_Vaguely, Peter is reminded of a time when a shaggy old man threw him off a roof and he smiles._

_"Yeah, I guess I do. Any pointers?"_

_Gabriel walks towards Peter carefully and slowly, as if he's afraid of spooking the other man away._

_"Well for one thing, stop falling asleep."_

_"I'm not falling asleep, I'm closing my eyes-"_

_"Doesn't matter."_

_Peter sighs and leans against the back of a couch nearby. Gabriel continues to walk a circle around him, as if inspecting him, but Peter's used to his friend's weird habits._

_It's not until he can feel the other man's eyes boring into his body, and just sort of feel him behind him, that Peter begins to worry. He's about to turn around when large hands slide on to his hips and a scorching mouth is laving opened mouth kisses all over the back of his neck. He tries to say something but all that escapes from his lips is "Oh," and he melts into the touch._

_"I've missed you so much Peter," Gabriel sighs into his skin and he leans back._

_"Why haven't you come seen me then?" Peter manages to ask, as he lets himself be manhandled on to the couch, where Gabriel continues to lavish attention on all his exposed skin, hands sliding up to the skin covered in clothing._

_Vaguely, Peter starts to become aware of the sensation of insecurity and loneliness, and when he realizes it's not his feelings he gently tugs the other man's face up._

_"Can you help me out of here? I want to do this," he motions towards their entwined bodies, "In the real world. Can you do that for me?"_

_Gabriel rubs a thumb across Peter's cheek before nodding._

_"I'll see if I can find where your physical body is." He leans down to plant a kiss on Peter's forehead._

_"You'll have to find your own way out of here, though."_

Peter closes his eyes and relishes the contact. When he reopens them, he's somewhere else entirely.

"Fuck," he sighs, more resigned than angry. "Why can't I get out of here? What is going on?"

He stares out at the emptiness before him and briefly entertains the notion that he's gone crazy or maybe died.

Since neither of those ideas seem likely, he turns and tries to head down the street, when he comes face to face with himself.

Which probably would be weirder if he wasn't used to that sort of thing by now.

"You have to admit it," he says, and current Peter can't help but notice how dream Peter looks like the one from the future, the one who kidnapped him and got shot by Claire.

"Admit what?" he asks, as if he would know.

The dream Peter just eyes him carefully, before turning on one heel and starting to walk away. Blood dribbles down the back of his head and current, real Peter gasps in surprise, before running to catch up with himself.

"Let me guess, you're my subconscious trying to tell me something?"

Dream Peter just glares at him and continues stalking on. Real Peter follows, scowling.

"Is this like how it was me who was keeping the Wall up the whole time?" he asks, and when he receives no answer, he continues, "So if I admit to myself something I've been keeping inside I'll wake up for sure."

Dream Peter turns to look at him, and real Peter can't help but notice how suddenly a very large bullet hole had formed in his forehead and dark crimson blood was spilling down the other's face.

"Don't let the bad things happen, Peter," Dream Peter commands, and Peter blinks and finds himself in a desert.

_"You're not at your apartment," Gabriel sighs, shading his eyes from the sun._

_"I'm not?" Peter follows the other man's gaze and sees nothing for miles. And miles._

_"Nope. Emma's worried, she says she hasn't heard from you in two weeks."_

_This new information worries Peter, and he racks his brain for ideas on how to stop this...problem he's experiencing._

_Gabriel starts to walk and Peter follows him, as they look for shade. Peter tries to say something, he really does, but words fail him and he just stares down at his feet as they walk._

_He's about to open his mouth and say something when his feet slip and he sinks down into the sand, faster than he can even process. A hand shoots out to grab his and he clings to it, trying to keep his face above the sand._

_"Hold on, I'll get you out of here," Gabriel is saying, although Peter can sense the uncertainty in his voice._

_"Gabriel-" he tries, but the other man shushes him._

_"It's okay, it's alright," he soothes, but Peter sighs in frustration._

_"I have to tell you something, Gabriel," he tries, but Gabriel continues to ignore him._

_"It's okay Pete, I'm getting you out of here."_

_Peter rolls his eyes, listening to Gabriel mumble, before interrupting him loudly._

_"God dammit Gabriel, I love you, okay?"_

_That shuts the other man up, and he tightens his hold on Peter._

_"I need you, and when I get out of this, and I will...well, I guess we'll see what happens." Peter smiles and loosens his grip on the hands holding him above the sand._

_"I'll see you in the real world," he calls, before slipping into the sand._

He opens his eyes and finds a warm hand holding his.

"Is this real?" he finds himself mumbling, and is immediately reminded of a stupid video he saw online once.

"I'm pretty sure it is," a smooth and familiar voice replies, reaching a hand out to brush his bangs out of his face.

Peter glances to his left.

"Where am I?" he asks, confused by the unfamiliar surroundings.

Gabriel shrugs.

"I don't know, some motel. You must have rented this room while sleepwalking. You've been here for two weeks, by the way."

Peter wiggles his toes and is pleased to find he still has feeling. He sits up in bed and groans.

"I feel horrible."

Gabriel's grip on his hand falters for a moment and Peter looks at him questioningly.

"What...do you feel horrible about?" he asks, carefully, and Peter realizes that the other man thought he was talking about his confession.

"Oh, you know, the whole falling asleep for two weeks straight and living in a freakish dream world of denial while people who care about me worry themselves silly in the real world." Peter shrugs and cocks a playful eyebrow. "The usual, you know."

Gabriel studies his face carefully.

"Nothing else?"

Peter shrugs and squeezes the hand linked with his.

"Nope."

Feeling a little unsure of how he must look or even smell after all that time laying about, Peter carefully gets off the bed, then turns and plants a quick, closed mouth kiss to Gabriel's lips.

"Home?" Peter asks, and when Gabriel stands up to follow him, Peter knows he won't be getting much sleep later tonight.


	2. Are you Lost, or just Incomplete?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A semi-sequel to my Dream a Dream, Lover fic. The New Company wants to know where Sylar is. Peter isn't talking, though.

_"They're not going to like this, you know."_

_A soft voice is telling him things, but he just smiles sadly._

_"What can they do to us?"_

_"Nothing."_

A dull ache in Peter's wrists brings him back to reality and he remembers where he's being held. His hands are cuffed behind him to the chair he's sitting on, in some sort of interrogation room that he swears he must have seen on an episode of Law & Order before, what with its dull lighting and grungy walls.

He sighs and looks up at the ceiling, completely ignoring the person calmly sitting across from him, waiting for his answer. 

"Peter."

He blinks once, twice, continues to stare.

"Peter," the voice repeats, "You know if you just tell us where he is we can let you out of here, and everything will be okay."

He's tried to pretend that their words had no effect on him, but he ends up moving his head back down to level a look at the woman sitting across from him. 

"We both know that's not true." 

The woman, pretty, blonde with blue eyes, looks at Peter carefully before stealing a glance to the man standing in the corner of the room, by the door. Peter's not sure what brought Noah back to working with The Company, but he figures Claire's idea of a "brave new world" had something to do with it.

"Peter, be reasonable." 

Noah has stalked over to the table and has crossed his arms, glaring down at the medic. But Peter knows better. 

"I don't know why you think I have any idea where he is," Peter shrugs, lifting an eyebrow just so. 

The woman- Lauren, Peter thinks her name is- opens up a folder and slides a photo across so Peter can look. It's grainy, like some sort of private detective took it from across the street, but the subject matter is clear: Peter and Gabriel, sharing a quick kiss before Peter disappears into the hospital for his shift. 

Noah clears his throat.

"I have no idea how you can possibly trust this monster, let alone do... _that_ , but I'm not surprised." Noah leans over the table so he can level his face near Peter's, using his voice that Peter knows is meant to soothe. "You were always the loving one, weren't you, Peter?"

Peter rolls his eyes and turns to study the ceiling again.

"You can try the intimidation tactic all you want, Noah. I'm not saying anything." 

Noah shakes his head and continues, as if Peter hadn't spoken at all.

"Do you remember what he did to my daughter, your niece? To your mother, your father, Elle Bishop, Mohinder Suresh, Matt Parkman, your own brother and even you? Did you forget?" He grabs Peter's face so he's forced to look. "Or are you just pretending everything's normal so you two can play house? Is that what it is?" 

Peter's brow furrows and he shakes his head, forcing Noah to let go. 

"I used to think you were a good man, Noah. But I see you've changed." 

He yanks his head away angrily and takes a deep breath, trying to not let the other man's words hurt him too much. Faintly, he hears Lauren whispering to Noah about something, and then they both leave the room. A few minutes later, some agents escort him to a cell. The door slams shut beside him and he sighs. 

He waits until the lights in his cell have turned off before he lays down on the tiny bunk they call a bed. Almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, he feels his eyes drooping and he slowly falls asleep.

Sometime during the night, he dreams.

_"I'm going to get you out, Peter."_

_Gabriel's words echo in the younger man's mind but he doesn't let it bother him too much._

_"Stay where you are," Peter commands, jabbing a finger into Gabriel's chest, hoping to appear threatening, but really only succeeding in looking stupid._

_Gabriel, unphased, grabs Peter's shoulders and shakes his head._

_"I don't care if they're trying to find me, you need to get out of that...place. Before they hurt you."_

_"They're not going to hurt me."_

_A scoff._

_"How can you be so sure of that? Did you forget about all the times they've locked you up, like an animal? Did tests on you?" Gabriel squeezes Peter's shoulders lightly. "I'm coming back for you. But not yet. I need to think of a better plan before doing anything drastic-" Peter's lip quirk in a small smile and Gabriel continues, "-So until then, just keep being your stubborn, angry self and you'll be fine."_

_Peter nods and Gabriel plants a kiss on the other man's forehead._

Peter wakes up slowly and stretches. A few minutes later he's pulled from his cell, brought to another interrogation room, where he, surprise surprise, finds Rene looking just as serene as usual. 

"Hello Rene," Peter sighs. "You're going to talk to me out of this, aren't you?"

The man in front of him continues sitting there, facial expression neutral, so Peter leans back in his chair. 

"You know, if you erase my memory they'll never find him."

The Haitian finally speaks.

"I'm not here for that, Peter."

"Then why are you here?"

There's a pause and suddenly Rene is leaning forward, taking one of Peter's hands in his own. 

"I'm here as your friend. They will keep you here as long as they need to, and you of all people should know that. Please, tell them what they want. If not for your own sake, then for your mother's."

Peter exchanges a long glance with his friend before nodding. 

"I'll think about it. Thank you, Rene."

Rene gets up and leaves, leaving Peter alone in the room. Peter turns to stare out the window that leads to the hallway, expecting to find some other person out there, maybe even Claire, begging him to give up what he knows, but no one comes. 

Idly, Peter starts to whistle, watching as the colorful swirls of Emma's gift take over his vision. Of course, that was the ability he had when they took him, and not something useful like telekinesis or telepathy. 

A door suddenly opens but Peter decides to stare up at the ceiling again, opting not to pay any attention to the latest crusader for information.

However, when this person starts to speak, he has to look over in surprise. 

"Matt?" he asks, eyes just a little bit wider than before, and the man in question takes a chair and sits down.

"Last chance to say something before I read your thoughts."

Peter stares before saying, bluntly, "You flew all the way to New York to read my mind? Wow. You must really, really hate me for ruining your plan to lock him away."

Matt's expression changes to anger and he narrows his eyes, turning his head as he tries to probe into Peter's mind. Peter pushes back as best as he can, but it's hard to keep someone out who has had more practice with his ability. 

Peter compensates by bringing up the dirtiest memories he can, forcing Matt to flinch and stop what he was doing.

"You're sick."

Peter scoffs.

"Me? You're the one keeping me hostage just so you can find Sylar and help destroy him. Again."

"He's a monster, Peter! He's killed hundreds of innocent people, he's hurt almost everyone you know, and you..." He sputters. "If I had known you were going to react to that stupid nightmare, I would never have done it."

Peter shrugs.

"All the same, it happened. Deal with it."

"I am."

Peter taps his fingers idly against the chair. 

Matt leans forward.

"Where is he?"

Peter watches the lights in the room, coming from Matt's voice and the buzzing of the fluorescent lighting, before licking his lips and calmly replying, "I have no idea."

Matt frowns.

"See for yourself, I have no idea. Emma told him I didn't show up to work and he _knew_. If he had any sense, and he does, he'd be long gone from here."

"He'll come for you, to save you."

Peter shakes his head.

"No he won't."

Matt can see the truth in the other man's words, but he's can't believe them.

"Do you doubt his love for you?" 

"Of course not. That's why I know he's going to stay far, far away from all of you. He knows that's what I want." 

Matt's eyes search Peter's face for a moment before he sighs and stands up.

"I can't say I didn't try." 

He heads towards the door before turning around.

"I'm sorry, Peter."

"I know, Matt." 

He leaves and the door shuts and Peter's left alone again. He's brought back to his cell, where he sleeps again. He's just starting to dream when something hits him, hard, and he wakes with a start. 

"He's watching you, isn't he?" 

Dazed, Peter doesn't reply, just stares at the agent who he's seen, but doesn't know. The man looks angry, although Peter isn't sure the reason why.

The agent grabs him, pulls him off the bed, and hits him again, hard. Several more blows are laid across the empath's body, but Peter knows better than to fight back. It's not until Noah and Lauren come running in, pulling the agent off of him, that Peter opens his eyes and sees Noah chewing out his attacker. 

Lauren kneels down, holding up a handkerchief to wipe the blood pooling on Peter's lip.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, genuine compassion in her voice, and vaguely, Peter wonders how much she means it. 

In the background, he can make out Noah yelling, "What the hell were you thinking?" 

The agent rubs his knuckles and glares in Peter's direction.

"If that son of a bitch is watching, he'll come right here to protect that little fa-"

Noah's right hook cuts off the agent before he can finish his sentence.

"Don't you fucking _dare_ try anything like that again." 

The agent looks between Noah and Peter before wiping his hand across his mouth and stalking out of the room. 

Noah's eyes seem apologetic, but he follows soon after, and Lauren offers one last smile before turning and following, door shutting behind her, leaving Peter alone on the floor, a bloodied handkerchief in his hands.

He closes his eyes and hopes to God that he can dream this time.


	3. Get Me Out of this Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sequel to [Are You Lost, Or Incomplete?](http://lornrocks.livejournal.com/53279.html). Drastic measures are taken to try and find out where Sylar is hiding.

_With a cacophony of crashing and breaking glass, a building behind them tumbles to the ground, sending flying debris everywhere. Peter flinches as pieces fly by, but don't hit him. A car skids by and slams into a brick wall, making a metallic thud ring through the air._

_Peter watches Gabriel continue to freak out in the dream world they've built, a place for them to meet when they were apart, now being destroyed piece by piece._

_"Gabriel."_

_The man in question turns and Peter has to try incredibly hard not to flinch at the look of genuine rage on his face._

_"I'm going to kill them," he growls, and Peter sighs and reaches a hand out to touch the other's shoulder._

_"You promised you'd never hurt anyone again," Peter gently chides, but Gabriel shrugs him off._

_"That was before. Now..." He pauses, looks at Peter, then takes a breath. "Well. We'll see. But- I am not letting that son of a bitch get away with hurting you."_

_"You've done worse to me."_

_They exchange a glance before Gabriel turns to look at the building he had collapsed a few seconds earlier._

_"How much do they know?"_

_Peter shakes his head, shrugs._

_"Nothing, as far as I can tell."_

_Gabriel turns back around, nodding his head as if deciding something within himself._

_"Okay, good. I can't tell you what my plan is, because they can get them from you, especially if Parkman," here he pauses as if disgusted, "Is involved. But it won't be long now, Peter. I can promise you that."_

_The taller man pulls Peter into a tight embrace, burying his face into the empath's hair._

_"I miss you so much," he whispers, so quiet Peter can barely hear it, and he squeezes back._

_"I'll see you soon. I love you," Peter whispers back._

_Gabriel tilts Peter's chin up._

_"I know. I love you too."_

_With a single kiss, Peter is pushed back into reality._

When Peter wakes up the next morning, Noah personally escorts him to a bathroom where he can shower and inspect the bruises forming under his skin.

"I'm sorry about what happened."

Noah's standing in the door way, watching Peter pull on a new shirt. Peter smoothes the fabric down and looks up, meeting the other man's gaze.

"It wasn't your fault."

Noah leads him to the interrogation room, where he tells Peter to sit down. A few moments later, he returns with a glass of water.

"Here," he offers, and Peter eyes it skeptically for a moment before taking it and setting it down on the table.

"So now what, Noah? How much longer are you going to keep me here? I already told you, I don't know where he is, or what he's planning on doing."

Bennet stares down at Peter for a long time, as if formulating a response.

"We're going to try one more thing, and if we get nothing then, we'll let you go. I promise."

He leaves the room and a few minutes later, a woman walks in. It takes a minute, but Peter recognizes her as the woman with strawberry blonde hair that he bumped into to get the dream walking ability from in the first place.

"Sophia Collings," she offers, holding a hand out to Peter. He hesitates a moment before taking her hand and shaking it. She takes a seat and crosses her hands in front of her on the table.

"I'm sure you aware of my ability already, Mr. Petrelli."

He laughs a little to himself.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

She smiles and leans her head on her hand.

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

Peter shakes his head yes, but then pauses and starts to shake his head no instead.

"It depends on how well you can control it."

Sophia's smile disappears, suddenly serious.

"My point exactly. Would you be willing to let me go into one of your dreams? See if there's anything in your subconscious that could help us?"

Peter's answer is a flat out, "No."

She frowns.

"It could clear you, they'll let you out if there's nothing-"

"-Or they find out something and go murder Gabriel. I think not."

He folds his hands on the table, mimicking the woman's posture, and she sighs and glances towards the window, where Noah is standing.

"Then you leave me no choice, Mr. Petrelli."

Peter blinks and suddenly, a weird breeze starts to flow through the room, lifting Sohpia's hair and making some papers that were on the table float. Peter can feel himself start to lift in the chair, and he has to hold his hands up to keep his head from hitting the ceiling.

Sophia, for one, seems unaffected.

"There's no where to hide," Sophia's voice is echoing everywhere, it seems to be coming from some loud speaker, and Peter moves his body as if swimming, heading towards the window. With a swift kick the glass shatters and he moves through, making his way down the hallway. People with guns, all seeming familiar but strange, are standing on walls, ceilings, floors, firing guns at him, but Peter shifts through space, making the bullets miss him by inches.

He turns a corner and suddenly, Sophia is in front of him, holding a gun.

"Stop right there," she commands, and Peter stops for a moment, before narrowing his eyes and making to move. She fires her gun, but Peter holds out a hand, and the bullet stops dead before falling to the floor with a "tink".

"This is my dream, remember?" he taunts, and Sophia makes a frustrated noise, making to follow him. At the last second, Peter turns, pulling the gun from her grasp. Sophia holds both hands up.

"Look, I have nothing to hide, alright? You can check all you want, but stop these...people from trying to kill me. Okay?"

She swallows, thinks, nods.

"Fine."

She holds a hand to her ear, to a communicator, and says some words. She waits a few seconds and then turns back to Peter.

"They say they didn't find anything. You get to go home, Mr. Petrelli."

She holds out her hand for the gun and Peter gives it to her. Almost immediately she turns it around and shoots him point blank in the head.

Peter wakes up with a jolt, head on the table of the interrogation room, with Sophia sitting across from him.

"I'm sorry you had to go through with that," she smiles, and Peter glares in response.

She stands up and heads towards the door, making a motion. Noah comes in, followed by Lauren, and Peter is escorted back to his cell, where he's handed the clothes he was given when he was taken.

He emerges a few minutes later, dressed and looking a little worse for wear.

"You're really letting me go?" he asks, turning towards Noah, who smiles reassuringly.

"You're free to go, Peter. And again, I'm sorry that this happened."

Some guards lead Peter to the outside of the Company, and he stands there dumbfounded as he tries to decide what to do.

Luckily, Lauren comes up behind him and smiles.

"Need a ride to town?"

"Yeah."

He's given a lift back to Manhattan in some black sports car, and as soon as he gets back to his apartment he flops down on his bed and stares at the ceiling.

Could that really be it?

He closes his eyes but doesn't feel tired, so he gets back up and decides to take a walk.

The next few days seem to pass in the same way, and for some reason Peter can't shake the feeling that something isn't right. His suspicions seem to be confirmed, though, when he's standing by the window and feels warm arms wrap around his middle.

"I missed you," Gabriel breathes, nuzzling into the shorter man's hair, and Peter stiffens for a moment.

"You said you wouldn't be back until you were sure I was safe."

Gabriel twists Peter around so they're face to face.

"Don't worry, I made sure no one followed us."

Peter searches the other's face but sees nothing but relief and adoration in it. He tries to push back the nagging sense of confusion, but it keeps nibbling at his brain.

"Don't you want to know where I've been this whole time?" Gabriel asks, lips quirking into a smile, and Peter shrugs.

"Don't tell me."

Gabriel's about to open his mouth when his reply is stifled by the sound of breaking glass. Gabriel wraps his body around Peter, shielding him from the debris, and when the noise stops he grabs Peter's arm.

"We have to get out of here," he shouts, and together they manage to escape down the fire escape and into the street, where they zig zag through confused pedestrians.

Gun shots continue to ring out around them as the agents continue to chase them. Peter catches sight of an open cellar door and tugs Gabriel after him, shutting the doors behind them.

Without waiting to see if the agents saw them, They run up the stairs and through the building, out the back door and through an alley.

They run past a church, the church that Peter and his mother went to while hiding from Federal agents, which Peter seems to find ironic, given the current situation.

They come to a tall bank and run inside, scrambling inside the elevator and hitting the button for the roof.

"If you take flight from me, we might be able to escape that way," Gabriel is saying, but Peter frowns as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on.

They get on to the roof just in time for a helicopter to fly by. Gabriel grabs Peter's arm and tugs him so he's hiding behind an air duct vent.

"We have to find someplace to hide, somewhere we can go that's far away from here," he says, and Peter eyes him carefully.

"Like where?"

There's a pause as the other man searches Peter's eyes, before he leans in close, as if sharing a secret.

"Where I was hiding before I came back. You know where that is, right, Pete?"

Peter bites his lip.

"I think I do..."

Gabriel looks at him expectantly, as if waiting for his response. Peter opens his mouth, but instead of answering the question, stands up and glances towards the edge of the roof.

"If you know where that place is, why are you asking me?"

"Well, I-"

Peter shakes his head.

"I'm not falling for this."

He makes a run for the edge of the roof, and Gabriel holds up a hand.

"Peter, no!"

But it's too late. Peter vaults over the edge and falls, turning so he can see Gabriel's face as he plummets towards the ground.

With a sickening splat, he hits the ground, and it all goes dark.

_"Jesus!"_

Peter eyes snap open and he finds himself strapped to some bed in a cell in the Company.

Panting for breath, he closes his eyes and coughs.

From behind the window in the cell stands Noah Bennett and Sophia Collings.

"I thought you said this would work," Noah barks, and Sophia is quick to defend herself.

"He's stronger than we thought! He must have recognized what we were doing."

Noah's about to reply when they hear a commotion coming up the hallway towards them.

"What do you mean you sent a dream walker into his head?!"

Noah turns.

"Angela."

She stomps over to Sophia and glares.

"Have you lost your mind? Do you not know what you just did?"

Sophia sputters.

"Well, I-"

"Did you know that Sylar has a dream walking ability, too? Anything you try and do to Peter will just be negated by that monster." She shakes her head as if ashamed. "They have a connection, one that cannot be broken by dreaming alone."

The three of them turn and look at Peter's form, breathing now more regular than before.

"We could use that to our advantage."

Sophia and Angela turn towards Noah.

"How so?" Angela asks, narrowing her eyes.

Noah puts a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"We make Sylar think that Peter is dead by finding that link and using it to manipulate his thoughts. He'll come here for sure, and we set the trap. All we have to do is keep Peter from dreaming so he can't tell him otherwise." He turns towards Sophia. "Can you do that?"

The woman looks back and forth between the others before nodding.

"I can try."

Noah smiles.

"Good. Let's see if we can get this monster once and for all."


	4. I'm Not Awake After the Way You Loved Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At last, the company begins to execute their plan to lure Sylar to the company.

_Gabriel waits for Peter to arrive that night, like he always does. He waits and he waits, but Peter never shows up. He waits a few more days and on the third day, he begins to get worried. What were they doing to Peter?_

_Frowning, he realizes he'll have to bring Peter into the dream like he did before, before all of this. When they were together..._

In a small, dim cell in the Company, Peter is strapped down to a table, glaring daggers at anyone who comes close enough to be in his sight. When Noah comes into to give Peter something to drink, the younger man can't help but speak up.

"Why did you wait until now?" he asks, and Noah turns.

"I beg your pardon?"

"He was at the carnival when everyone else was, and you waited _six months_ before taking me and trying to find him. Why did you wait so long?"

Noah stares down at Peter, the cup of water in one hand, and tries to figure out exactly what to say that wouldn't upset his friend. Finally, taking a breath, he sets the cup down and begins to explain.

"Because we wanted to see if Claire's...'brave new world' could actually take hold. That people would accept abilities and super humans, and maybe, just maybe...that he could change. Permanently this time."

He lifts the cup, offering Peter a sip of water via a straw. When Peter is done drinking, he begins to speak again.

"But we both know things have been getting worse. We can't have someone like Sylar running around when right now the balance is so threatened." He stands up and makes to leave. "Do you understand, Peter? Even a little bit?"

Peter tries his best to look at the standing man, but it hurts his neck too much and he lays it back down against the table.

"Part of me does, Noah, but most of me...I just can't understand. I'm sorry."

Wordlessly, Noah leaves the room and Peter feels his eyes start to droop. Drowsiness takes over and he doesn't even hear the woman coming into the room, pulling a chair over, and sitting behind Peter.

She places her hands on either side of his head and closes her eyes, focusing her energy on the task at hand.

From the window in Peter's cell, Angela Petrelli watches as the dream walker gets to work manipulating her son's mind so they set up the trap they've been planning.

Noah comes over to join her, flanked by Lauren, and together, the three of them silently watch as Sophia begins to mumble things to herself.

"How exactly is this going to work?" Lauren asks, stealing a glance towards Noah. He begins to respond before Angela interrupts.

"The dream walker is going to use Peter's mind like a channel, to broadcast information to Sylar. The sedation we put on Peter should keep him from actively participating in the dream, however."

Noah nods, adding, "She'll go in there, impersonate Peter, and give him the false information that'll make him come here."

Lauren thinks she understands, but there are still some things she doesn't get.

"How is she going to trick him?"

"That's where I come in."

They all turn around and come face to face with Matt Parkman, being escorted by agents.

"The dream walker will take me in with her, and I'll be able to use the mental connection to manipulate his memories, making him believe-" Matt swallows and for just a second, Lauren swears she sees guilt in the man's eyes, "-Make him believe that Peter is dead."

"Given Sylar's previous grand attempts at revenge, I say it's not a far stretch to believe he'll come here looking for all of us," Angela scoffs, and Lauren's eyes dart to Matt's.

"You sure you're ready for this?" she asks, and Matt's brow furrows before he quietly replies, "Yeah." He licks his lips. "Yeah."

The agents who were escorting Matt open up the door to Peter's cell, and Matt steps inside, taking a seat beside Sophia on one side of the sleeping man. Tentatively, he reaches out a hand, placing it on Peter's forehead, before closing his eyes.

With some gentle prodding on the dream walker's part, Matt pushes into Peter's mind, and they begin.

_On the fourth day of trying to find Peter, Gabriel practically bumps into him on his favorite roof top in the middle of the city._

_"Where were you?" he demands, bringing Peter close to him, relief flooding his system._

_Peter sighs into his chest._

_"They wouldn't let me sleep."_

_Gabriel leans his head up and plants a kiss on Peter's forehead._

_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm working on getting to you," he mumbles, and Peter shakes his head._

_"It doesn't matter. Come on, there's something I want to show you."_

_Peter leads Gabriel off and away._

After a minute or so of watching Sophia and Matt invade her son's mind, Angela turns and starts walking away, to somewhere where she could get something to drink and not let the guilt ruin her.

Noah exchanges a glance with Lauren before silently turning to follow his friend. When he catches up with her, he leans against a wall and watches as she takes a drink of water and closes her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Angela."

Without opening her eyes, she replies, "I know, Noah. But it had to be done."

Bennett moves to take a seat next his friend, putting a hand on her shoulder, and she turns to look at him.

"What are you going to do...after...this? You know Peter will never forgive you."

She sets her mouth in a line and tries to think, but it's hard when the only things coming through her brain are the emotions of guilt and sadness.

"One of the things I love about my son is that he is the most forgiving person I have ever met." She sighs, leans into the touch. "If he can forgive that monster for murdering Nathan, then he can forgive me for returning the favor."

Noah listens carefully, eyes slightly narrowed as he listens, before he nods his head.

"I hope you're right, Angela."

_Peter has lead Gabriel to a wall, one that looks very similar to their Wall. When they get there, Peter turns around, leaning against the Wall._

_"Do you remember this, Gabriel?" he asks, and the taller man smiles fondly._

_"Yeah, I do. This is where you forgave me."_

_Peter smiles back, reaching up a hand to run through Gabriel's hair, before blinking. Suddenly, they're standing on the rooftop of a relatively low building, staring down at the street._

_"Do you remember this place?" Peter asks, turning to regard the other man._

_Gabriel stares, but for the life of him he can't remember this place._

_"I- I really don't," he tries, and Peter shakes his head and points. They both lean over the side of the building and watch as ghost versions of themselves go walking down on the sidewalk below them, laughing and smiling, holding hands._

_Suddenly, a shadowy form walks out from a side alley; It's the Haitian._

_"Rene?" The ghostly Peter asks, face twisted in confusion, before the ghostly Gabriel raises a hand and tries to push the intruder away. When nothing happens, he turns his hand around to look at it, despite already knowing what is causing the disturbance._

_Suddenly, Noah comes up from behind the two, holding a pretty heavy artillery gun._

_"Peter, step away," he commands, but Peter stays where he is, standing next to Gabriel. Noah cocks the gun._

_"Move away, Peter. The company sent me to take care of this **monster**."_

_Noah holds up the gun, ready to fire, when suddenly Gabriel moves. Noah pulls the trigger, and while the real Gabriel watches with horror from above, the ghostly version of Peter jumps in front of the bullet._

_With a sickening gurgling sound, Peter collapses on the ground in a growing puddle of blood, and Noah and the Haitian stare down in shock. Sirens are heard in the background, and panicking, they both turn and run off._

_The ghostly Gabriel sinks down to his knees, pulling the ghostly Peter's head into his lap._

_Peter's dark eyes look up at him and with a final sputter, he dies._

_From above, the real Gabriel's sob of anguish mixes with the fake's, and the Peter he once thought was real fixes a sorrowful gaze on him._

_"How are you here right now?" Gabriel sputters, tears starting to cloud his vision, and his Peter shakes his head and reaches out to touch him._

_"I'm a projection of your memories, Gabriel. I'm not real. The real me...he's dead."_

_Gabriel tugs Peter closer, sobbing into his chest._

_"I don't believe you! That's not true, I- I remember you-"_

_Peter shushes him._

_"Think back Gabriel, you know it's real. I died in your arms a few weeks ago, you remember that, don't you?"_

_Gabriel sniffles and thinks, and just like that, he does remember. He pulls away, staring at the man he once thought was real._

_"I swear Peter, I will find them and I will kill them for taking you away from me."_

_He turns to look down at the street below him, seeing the ghostly projections of his memory have disappeared. When he turns back to the roof, Peter is gone. He opens his eyes, and finds himself back in reality._

A few minutes later, Matt Parkman and Sophia Collings emerge from the cell, looking a little tired but fine all the same.

"How did it go?" Noah is asking, back from his break with Angela in tow.

"He's on his way here now."

Sophia looks serene, pleased with herself, but Matt has decided that the floor is the most interesting thing he's ever seen in his life.

"What are we going to do now?" Lauren prompts, blue eyes focusing on each member of their little group, and Noah takes his glasses off and rubs the bridge of his nose.

"We get ready," he says, simply, before replacing his glasses and turning to some agents who were nearby.

"Ready the traps," he commands, and before they leave, adds, "And see if you can find my old friend Rene."

While the others gather outside the hallway and the agents begin to prepare for the coming fight, Peter is laying in the cell. If anyone had cared to look, they would have noticed that despite his unconscious state, the news was still affecting him.

A single tear rolls down his cheek, unnoticed.


	5. I Could Really Use a Wish Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit goes down and the plan is put into motion.

_"I've been alone with you inside my mind_  
And in my dreams I've kissed your lips a thousand times  
I sometimes see you pass outside my door  
Hello, is it me you're looking for?..."

Gabriel- No, Sylar's- alarm clock wakes him up with that annoying fucking song and he grits his teeth, motioning a hand out, shoving the offending clock off the table with a loud crash.

"I hate that song," he growls to no one in particular, before slamming his feet to the ground and stalking back and forth, back and forth.

This motel room is _stifling_.

Frowning, he heads towards the bathroom, dimly lit and just a little bit too green tinged for his liking. He ignores his disheveled reflection in the mirror; he already knows he looks like hell. Some splashes of water on his face and he heads back to the bed area. He didn't bring a hell of a lot with him when he left Peter's- their- apartment, so he doesn't have a lot to work with. But, he does his best. After all, if he's going to be the last thing those _monsters_ see before they die, he wants to be memorable, at least.

He emerges from the bathroom, hair slicked back, unshaven, and sharply dressed in his favorite black button down coat. A quick glance outside the window tells him it's raining; Hemmingway would be proud.

He slams the motel door behind him and heads towards the staircase, taking the stairs two at a time as he heads to the roof. Once he's there, it's not hard to just take off and fly away, since the rain is making everything about muggy anyway.

He knows that it won't be long until he'll have his revenge, and it makes the bitter sting of the rain against his skin all the sweeter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Matt Parkman has been sitting in the rental car outside of the New Company's headquarters for the better part of an hour, just sitting. And staring.

The steering wheel is very, very interesting today, he decides.

He's started to count to five hundred again in his head when a gentle knock against the window startles him, and he looks up. Standing there is that Company woman, whatever her name was. Laura? Lauren? Something like that.

She smiles and points towards the passenger seat.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asks, and Matt pauses for a moment before nodding. She heads around the car, opening the door and sliding into the seat, shutting the door behind her.

"You should probably leave," she says, cocking her head to one side. "You know, in case things get...messy."

In her mind, Matt can see recollections of the damage and horror that Sylar caused before, of bloody corpses and burned down buildings.

He frowns and looks out the windshield.

Lauren's eyes are watching him, he can feel them boring into his skin, but he doesn't dare turn and return the gaze. He may be the mind reader here, but he knows she's trained to observe.

Her mind isn't hard to decipher, he can hear her loud and clear, but regardless, she speaks them out loud anyway.

"I know you feel bad for doing this to him, Matt, but it's for the best. We all know that."

A niggle of doubt remains in her mind and Matt turns to look.

"You don't sound so convinced," he notes, but she doesn't move her gaze. Resolute, if not a little unsure.

An unspoken idea passes between them, and before Lauren can stop thinking it, Matt picks up on it.

"We both know this is wrong," he sighs, turning to look back out the window. "But on the other hand, it's...the best thing. For all of us."

The blonde's reflection is watching him in the glass of the wind shield, Matt can see it, but he doesn't move to look back. He simply watches as she bites her lip, uncertainty spreading inside her more and more until it's almost stifling inside the car.

"I think we made this worse."

Internally, Matt cringes.

 _Way to state the obvious,_ he bemoans internally.

Lauren begins to fiddle with something in her hand. Matt doesn't bother looking to see what it is; it doesn't matter.

"Do you think he was right? Has Sylar changed?"

Matt thinks back to a time when his knee was killing him and Peter Petrelli was standing in his kitchen, covered in dust and gripping tightly to Sylar's arm, looking incredibly protective for someone who supposedly hated the other man.

Peter, he noted at the time, was feeling incredibly buddy-buddy with Sylar. And it didn't take a genius to note that Sylar was, in fact, completely enamored with poor Peter.

Carefully, Matt licks his lips and turns to face Lauren.

"Yes," he admits, finally, and Lauren almost visibly sinks in the seat.

"So you're saying that we basically just messed everything up because of our lack of faith?"

Matt sighs, leans back in his chair, and closes his eyes.

"No. Our lack of understanding. We didn't want to see. I mean I- I wanted to get revenge on that monster for ruining my life, and threatening my wife and...I didn't even bother to notice that he's different."

He can feel Lauren's mind buzzing with sympathy, understanding, and conflict.

"There's nothing we can do now."

It's a statement, not a question, and with a final nod, Lauren opens the door, gets out, and shuts it carefully behind her. With a final look back, she waves and disappears into the building, leaving Matt alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There's screaming coming from one of the cells, but Sophia Collings ignores it. She knows exactly who it is, and she doesn't care, quite frankly. Peter Petrelli was one pawn in their game of taking down Gabriel Gray once and for all and if his little heart is breaking because they're about to kill his boyfriend, well then too bad. Deep down inside, she knows that what they're doing is right. After all, no one really changes.

She brushes a lock of hair back behind her ear, smiling to herself when Bennett and the Haitian walk in. The former looks grim; the latter, stoic as always.

"Ready boys?" she asks, hands on hips, and she pretends that the Haitian isn't looking so disgusted right now.

Bennett's lips quirk in that smirk of his and he nods.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

She nods and turns to look at Rene. His dark eyes look as intense as ever, and she frowns.

"Don't tell me you're going to back out on us now," she sighs, and earns even more of a glare from the other man.

"I think that Sylar should be...taken care of as much as you do, but hurting Peter like this-" here he pauses as the man in question lets out another agonized wail, "-Was that really necessary?"

Sophia rolls her eyes.

"He's just being dramatic. He'll get over it."

This time, Bennett is the one to interject.

"I think you'd be upset too, Collings, if you had to sit helpless while the love of your life was assassinated." An eyebrow quirks up above those stupid glasses of his and she tries to ignore the twinge in her chest. A different tactic is in order, then, and she decides to change the subject by posing a question.

"You think that serial killer is the love of his life? I doubt that."

They all turn to watch the writhing form through the window as Peter continues to struggle uselessly against the restraints.

"This'll sting for a bit, but he'll get over it in due time and find a nice girl to settle down with, someone that'll make Mama Petrelli happy."

The look Bennett is shooting her is almost one of sympathy and she crosses her arms.

"What?"

"You obviously don't know Peter very well."

She shrugs.

"Obviously not." She claps her hands together. "Now then, we can't have him screaming away when Sylar gets here. Be right back."

She disappears into the cell, and the screaming gets louder as Peter shouts insults at the woman standing above him. She adjusts something in the IV leading into his arm and in a few seconds the noises and movements die down until Peter is a still form on the table. She smiles and pats him gently on the head before popping out of the cell.

"Where were we?" she prompts, but turns to find that Bennett and the Haitian have disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_dripdripdripbreatheinbreatheoutcan'tseecan'tfeelidon'tunderstand_

An eternity has passed since the dream walker came in and put Peter back to sleep. He can't open his eyes, or move, or make noise, but he's not asleep. He can't dream. Instead, he's sedated just to the precipice of unconsciousness, and it's infuriating.

All he can do is breathe and feel his thoughts reeling. His body feels so nice, so free and loose, but he knows it's just the drug working through his system.

At least if his eyes were open, he could watch the lights and colors of the machines humming around him.

He feels like he's floating, he decides, and although he tries to make the panic of the situation at hand worry him, he just feels so...nice.

If he could laugh, he would.

But he can't, so instead he just lays there, half existing, half not.

For some reason, he's reminded of a time when he came home from work, and finding the apartment empty, promptly fell half onto the bed, half off, and fell asleep. Sometime after that, Gabriel must have come home and laid down next to him, because Peter recalls spending a few dreams with him, just innocent, normal, dreams.

_He woke up laying the wrong way across the bed, with Gabriel laying next to him, but upside down, and he remembers laughing at the picture they must make._

_His movement must have woken up Gabriel, because he turned his head and smiled at Peter._

_"Go back to sleep," Peter had whispered, and they did. Sometime during the night, Peter must have reached for the other man because when he woke up the next morning their hands were still tightly clutched together, like Gabriel never wanted to let go._

Despite the sedation, this memory leaves a weird feeling inside of Peter's chest, and it's only vaguely that he's aware that tears have been falling from his eyes, entirely without permission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sylar arrives just outside the perimeter of the New Company and waits. He knows they'll be expecting him, especially if that dick Matt Parkman was still drawing the future in his spare time.

He's about to take off again when he hears a noise behind him. Faster than he thought he could, he whirls around and hurls the offender against a nearby tree trunk.

Well, speak of the devil.

"Parkman," Sylar growls, eyeing the man in question with a skeptical eye. "To what do I owe this honor?"

The telepath isn't struggling against the telekinetic hold, which is unusual. Instead, he's fixed a gaze on Sylar like he really, really needs to tell him something. Unfortunately, his mental blocks are a little too much for Sylar and his inexperience with the power, but his lie detector is still working perfectly.

"This is a trap," Matt says, and Sylar rolls his eyes.

"I figured that much. What else you got?"

Here, Matt looks like he's unsure about something, before he very carefully begins to form the next few words.

"Peter is alive."

The grip on him tightens a little as Sylar stalks closer.

"How is that not a lie? I saw him die myself."

Despite the harshness of his tone, Matt feels the confusion and hope beginning to blossom inside of the taller man and he beckons with one of his hands.

"I can show you, if you let me."

At first, Sylar starts walking closer, but then he stops and narrows his eyes.

"Why would you come here and tell me this? I could kill you without a second's thought right now." He pauses, considers. "I should kill you."

Matt's gaze is sad, but determined.

"I made a mistake, and I'm sorry. I should never have helped them with this. It's wrong what they're doing to you, and Peter."

Matt's not lying, and Sylar is just a little confused. He lets the grip on the other man go and he drops to the ground quietly.

"Here," Matt volunteers, and then his hand is reaching out to gently touch at Sylar's forehead.

In a few seconds, memories and explanations are pushed into the ex killer's mind and he staggers back with the force of it.

"Peter," he whispers, followed by, "Oh, _Peter._ "

Matt politely looks away as Sylar rubs a clumsy hand across his eyes and readjusts his coat.

When he looks back, Sylar is actually smiling.

"Thank you, Matt," he says, and his voice is softer, his countenance is less intense, and again Matt is reminded of a time when he was standing vulnerable in the kitchen while Peter looked on.

"Well go on then," Matt prompts, "Go save him."

With one last look back, Sylar disappears into the sky and Matt sighs.

What did he just do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter is violently pulled back into reality by a pair of blue eyes and some warm hands.

"W-what?" he stammers, his tongue suddenly feeling strange now that he can use it again.

Lauren has pulled the IV out of his arm and was working on undoing the straps.

"You have to get out of here," she says, and Peter looks confused. It could just be the drugs wearing off, or it could be that the woman who was working to bring him in in the first place was suddenly helping him.

When he doesn't move, she pulls him up and points towards a pile of clothing sitting on a nearby table.

"I brought your clothes. Now get out of here and find Sylar before he comes here and gets himself killed. Alright?"

Peter blinks once, twice, confused, before she sighs and reaches up to pat his cheek lightly.

"You can thank me later."

She turns and walks out of the cell, leaving Peter with just a flash of blonde hair and more confusion than before.

Groggily, he dresses and she opens the door and holds up some kind of card.

"You can use this to get out of here without them noticing, but eventually, someone will, so make it quick."

There's a noise and they both turn, startled.

"Go, go," she pushes, whispering, "I'll distract them."

He hurries down the hallway and into a stairway, and briefly wonders what to do when an alarm sounds.

Swearing, he runs down the stairs but when he turns the corner near the third stairwell door, it opens abruptly and he stops dead in his tracks.

"You," he says, simply.


	6. Bleed Just to Know You're Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has to escape; Gabriel has to find him. Even if they succeed, what will they do?

Peter stares down the intruder who has met him on the third floor landing.

"Are you going to stop me?" he asks, face stern and fists clenched.

The Haitian holds up two comforting hands.

"No, Peter. This is not my fight."

A loud banging sound distracts them and they both look up, before Rene turns back to Peter.

"Go, quickly, before they find you."

Peter nods, easing to a sprint as he continues to run down the stairs, calling, "Thank you," as he goes.

He's about to get to the bottom level when the door opens and he comes face to face with Noah Bennett.

"Peter," Noah begins, but Peter turns around and immediately starts to run the other way, back up the stairs and out the door on to the second level. He's not sure exactly what his plan is, but he knows somehow, he can just _feel_ , that he should be up higher.

Peter makes his way down the hallway, hiding out inside a maintenance closet when some agents come running down the hall. Once they pass, he continues down the hallway until he finds a room with an unusually large air vent opening.

Carefully, so no one can tell exactly what happened, he stacks some furniture until he can crawl up inside, then leans down and shoves the furniture down until half of it lies in a broken pile on the floor. He makes his way through the tunnels, not really knowing where to go or even if he was being watched, but eventually he opens up a grating and finds himself facing the elevator shaft. He knows, somehow, that they'll have deactivated the elevator so he can't use it, which actually gives him an advantage.

Steeling himself, he jumps out, grabbing on to the cables and wincing as the metal digs into his palms. From there, he's able to jump down on to the top of the car and across the passage until he reaches the maintenance ladder.

As fast as he can manage with the stinging pain in his hands, he climbs up the ladder, not stopping until he gets to the top floor where it stops. Using the ladder as an anchor, he leans over until he can open a small panel that leads to some more air tubing. He clambers inside, crawling until he can drop down a few feet down from the stairway that leads to the roof.

He opens the door and is about to go up when he hears a shout.

"Peter!"

It's Noah and Lauren, brandishing guns.

Before they can get closer, Peter darts up the staircase to the roof, bursting out of the doorway, with the others closely on his heels.

"Peter, turn around," he hears, and he turns around, holding both hands up.

"Don't make us have to shoot you," Lauren says, brow bunched in uncertainty and Peter licks his lips, looking between the two of them.

"You have nowhere else to go. Come with us, please, Peter."

Noah looks genuinely unsure of what to do, and Peter takes the opportunity to turn and make a run for the edge of the roof.

"No!" Lauren shouts, face paling, and Noah raises his gun, but hesitates, and watches as Peter leaps from the edge and disappears from view.

They both run over, glancing down, and watch in dumbfounded awe as a dark figure comes swooping by Peter, their hands just barely sliding together before Peter's skin glows slightly and he takes off upward, followed by the figure.

Sylar.

"Dammit," Noah swears, the two of them suddenly just gone.

Sophia, Angela, and some agents take the opportunity to burst in through the door, looking back and forth between Lauren and Noah.

"What the hell just happened?" Angela barks, and Noah sighs and holsters his gun.

"He jumped and Sylar saved him. They're gone."

He can just make out the way Sophia is clenching her teeth, even in the darkness, before she puts both hands on her hips and frowns.

"We have to find them and take care of this once and for all."

Angela laughs bitterly, surprising everyone, before explaining, "They're probably on their way to the farthest reaches of the Earth. I doubt we'll ever find them now."

"Maybe we could do something that'll make them stay nearby," Sophia muses, and earns a disbelieving noise from the older woman standing beside her.

"Like what?"

There's a beat and then Sophia is holding a gun to her head.

"We have you, don't we?"

Angela huffs and levels a gaze at Noah, who holds up his hands in a gesture that he uses to comfort, normally.

"We won't really hurt you, Angela."

She scowls.

"What, like you said you'd never hurt my son?"

Sophia releases the gun and pats Angela's shoulder.

"Ah, except you're a willing participant in this, Mrs. Petrelli." She turns her gaze to the sky. "Do you think your son would be willing to trade his boyfriend's life for yours?"

Angela looks down at the ground, ashamed of all that has happened, and whispers, "I hope so."

At the same time as this exchange, Peter finds himself landing on top of a building somewhere in the middle of a city, with a familiar face dropping down next to him.

"Talk about a leap of faith," Peter sighs, but is enveloped into a hug that muffles the sentiment. He tries to say something but Gabriel is already pulling back so he can press desperate, needy kisses against Peter's lips, needing to know that the other man is really okay.

Peter kisses back, because he missed the other man so much, and he doesn't even need to ask to know the heartbreak that Gabriel must have went through, thinking Peter was dead.

"It's okay," he soothes, when they pull away, adding, "I'm here. I'm alive, I'm okay."

Gabriel keeps his hand on Peter, mumbling, "Christ, Peter, you have no idea- I thought you were- Jesus."

Peter pulls him into another hug, and then, when he thinks they both have calmed down a bit, muses, "We should find some motel or something that we could hide out at. Until we figure out what we're going to do."

Gabriel nods and they take off, flying a bit more before finding some seedy motel in the bad part of town. No one asks for IDs and no one blinks when they offer cash, and they settle in for the night.

Peter's only been asleep for an hour when he darts up, breathing heavily, and Gabriel's there in an instant, holding him.

"What happened?" he asks, and Peter shakes his head and buries his face in his hands.

"That dream walker, she came into my dreams and told me that if we don't surrender, they're...they're going to kill my mom."

Gabriel's eyes narrow.

"Bennett would never."

Peter still looks shaken, looking down at the bedspread.

"I think someone realized that Lauren and Rene were helping me. Noah's probably going along with this so they don't hurt them." He gets out of the bed and starts to pace, before stopping suddenly and swearing.

"What are we going to do?" he asks, looking desperate for answers, and Gabriel gets up and puts a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"We have to face them, Pete. It's the only way to get them off our back."

The way Peter is looking at him, Gabriel is reminded of a time long ago when they were trapped behind a wall and Peter admitted that he forgave the other man.

"Okay," he says at last, and together, they formulate a plan. The next morning, they rise early, and Peter turns to Gabriel.

"Ready?" he asks, and Gabriel smiles a sad smile and threads their fingers together.

"Ready."

And together, they turn to face what's coming to them.


	7. All That's Left of Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's now or never for Peter and Gabriel to get away from it all.

Like most days since Peter rescued him from his own mental prison, Gabriel Gray woke up, put clothes on, and drank some hot tea. However, unlike most days, Gabriel was expecting fully to find either one of two outcomes for him at the end of the day: Living with Peter, happily ever after; or dead, finally. He was not entirely sure, with any amount of certainty, which one he would find, but he knew exactly which one he wanted.

They decide to walk to the new Company's headquarters, if only to give them some more time together, since utter exhaustion, both emotional and physical, caused them to sleep through the night. For a long time, as they wander through the outskirts of the town in which they had stayed the night, neither of them says anything, until finally, Peter turns to Gabriel with a determined look in his eye.

"I need you to promise me something."

His tone doesn't sound promising, but Gabriel nods so that the other man will continue.

"Promise me that your first priority will be saving my mother, and anyone other innocent person there." He takes a deep breath, hazel eyes wandering up skyward as he prepares to say his next piece. "And also, don't...if I die, promise me you won't try and bring me back."

This time he moves his gaze to catch Gabriel's, and Peter looks completely serious, and at the same time, a little heartbroken.

"Peter," Gabriel is saying, but Peter shushes him.

"I've lived a good life. I've tried to help as many people as I can, and use the gifts I've been given. Sure, I've made mistakes, but who hasn't?" He smiles, lips pressed together firmly and eyes crinkled in the corners. "Promise me."

What seems like an eternity passes as they stare at each other, fighting an internal battle, until finally Gabriel nods, even though it's killing him.

"I promise, Peter."

They walk some more before, all too soon, they arrive at their destination. The sun is just barely coming up on the horizon and the golden light is casting a gorgeous sheen across Peter's features. For a minute, Gabriel can't help but just stare in awe, but then he remembers what they were there for. He turns his full attention to the building in front of them, already mentally calculating how many people were in there and what they were planning on doing.

Peter holds out a hand, and by reflex, Gabriel takes it, waiting as Peter takes one of his powers. He hasn't gotten used to the sensation yet, and he's not sure he ever will.

"Telekinesis?" he guesses, and Peter nods.

After a quick circle around the building, they stop in front of the entrance, prompting Gabriel to ask, "What now?"

Shrugging, Peter starts to walk to the front door, and carefully, opens the door and goes inside. Gabriel follows closely behind, and together, they stand in the lobby. Just like they suspected, Noah Bennett and a few other agents were standing there, all armed except for Noah.

"Hello boys," he smiles, and Gabriel has to fight the urge to roll his eyes at the condescension in the other man's tone.

"Where's my mom?" Peter asks. No need to sugar coat it, really.

Noah motions in a vaguely upward motion.

"She's upstairs. Shall we?"

Begrudgingly, they let themselves be manhandled to the elevator and up to the top floor, which Peter vaguely recalls is the one they were holding him on earlier. A slight shiver goes down his spine, and he relaxes when Gabriel gently touches his shoulder to calm him down, a gesture Peter is used to giving, not receiving, but it's appreciated none the less.

They're brought to one of the interrogation rooms, where Angela is sitting calmly at the table, a glass of water next to her.

Not knowing what to say, Peter says the first thing that comes to mind.

"Hi, Ma," he waves, and she smiles.

"Good morning, Peter." She glances at Gabriel and frowns.

"I would say it's nice to see you again, but we both know that would be a lie."

He smiles in a way that could almost be called patronizing.

"Mama Petrelli, how are you?"

She reaches for her glass and takes a drink.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," she replies, setting the glass back down.

Noah glances towards one of the agents standing guard, and before Gabriel can say anything, Peter is roughly grabbed by two agents, both of them brandishing weapons. Another one walks over to Angela and does the same.

Sighing, Noah turns to Gabriel.

"Now, we can do this the easy way, and you can surrender without a fight, Or," he pauses to remove a pistol from where it was tucked into his belt, "You can try and fight us." Motioning towards the others in the room, he adds, "And I can guarantee you won't like that result. Remember, Gabriel, not everyone heals like you can."

Gabriel's eyes shift over to Peter's, and he's met with a steely gaze that almost screams, _Do it._

He looks back at Noah.

"So let's say I do surrender, what exactly will happen after that?"

Noah fingers the side of his gun absentmindedly.

"Peter and Angela would be set free to do whatever it is they want, and you'll be taken care of."

"You mean you're going to kill me."

Noah doesn't need to say yes for Gabriel to know that is exactly what they plan on doing. He tries not to let the uncertainty show on his face as he adds, "And make it stick this time, I hope. It really is a pain trying to regenerate half of your body."

A quick gleam through Peter's thoughts and Gabriel knows Peter is both relieved and afraid, and he tries to send some calm emotions his way, even though telepathy was never his strong suit.

"Hmm, well," Noah shrugs, "Claire tells me that I could cut off your head and that would make it stick. I tend to believe my own daughter."

"Fair enough."

He's about to hold up his hands, give himself over, when Peter interrupts.

"Can I say goodbye to him?"

Everyone's face whips around to stare at the youngest Petrelli, whose eyes are shining with unshed tears.

Noah glances at Angela, and she nods once.

"Five minutes," Noah says, and adds, "And don't try anything."

The agent holding Angela leads her from the room to wait outside, while the ones holding on to Peter let go to stand by the door. Noah catches Peter's eye, mouthing, "I'm sorry," before heading out the door.

Once they're relatively alone, Gabriel pulls Peter into an embrace.

 _What are you doing?_ Peter is thinking at him, and Gabriel squeezes.

 **Think about it, Pete,** he replies, **This is the only way you and your mom will get out of this alive.**

Peter pulls away, hands reaching up to cup the other man's face, and he stares up into dark eyes, feeling just a little lost.

"I never thought I'd say this," he whispers, "But I don't think I can do this without you."

Gabriel shushes him, bringing their foreheads together.

"You managed fine before I came along Peter, and even then. You're strong."

He kisses the shorter man's forehead, pulling away to whisper, "I love you."

A tear slides down Peter's cheek and he whispers back, "I love you too."

They kiss and Peter presses in desperately, like a man deprived of air, before a voice interrupts them and they pull apart.

"It's time."

Sophia Collings is looking just a little bit too amused and excited for Peter's liking, and he makes sure to glare in her direction.

Several heavily armed agents walk in, tugging Peter out of the room and guarding Gabriel.

Peter and Angela are taken downstairs, where they are put inside a car filled with agents. The car leaves for a destination unknown.

Meanwhile, Gabriel is taken to a cell, where Sophia stands over him with a weird, almost sadistic glee.

"It was so touching watching you say goodbye to him," she muses, holding what appears to be a very large hunting knife in her hand. "If you were anyone else I would pity you, but since you're not, I'm actually kind of amused."

He clenches his fist and ignores the ticking in his head, telling him to kill her painfully and slowly.

"Anyway, it's going to take a while for us to prepare for your, shall we say, demise, and we also want to make sure we can get your beloved far enough away that he won't try anything stupid." She holds up the knife.

"And since our friend The Haitian can't be trusted anymore, we're going to have to use some more...primitive measures to keep you contained."

Gabriel eyes the knife skeptically.

"What, you don't use those heavy grade sedatives anymore?"

Sophia smiles.

"Oh, we do."

Then she raises the knife and plunges it straight through Gabriel's forehead, not stopping until it's in to the hilt.

Satisfied, she turns to the guards standing at the doorway.

"If he gets up, stab him again."

She leaves, humming a merry tune.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter glares at Angela the entire car ride away from the Company building.

"You could at least pretend you're happy I'm alive," Angela sighs, fingering the edge of her coat, and Peter scoffs.

"You could at least pretend you're not ecstatic that the man I love is being executed right now."

"Please, Peter, you'll-"

"Don't. Just don't."

There's more silence and Peter glances out the window.

"This is wrong, Ma. You know it is."

She reaches across to rub her hand soothingly against his, but not looking up to make eye contact.

"In the end, Peter, I think you'll find that sometimes, sacrifices need to be made."

For ten minutes, there is silence, and Angela thinks that Peter has dropped the matter until glances at the two agents sitting in the seats in front of them.

"I'm not just going to sit by, Ma. You know I can't."

Before she can reply, he reaches into his coat and pulls out a tire iron he had hidden earlier. Leaning forward, he smashes it into the driver's head and the passenger in quick succession. The car swerves off the road and bangs into a fence on the side of the road.

He ignores Angela's cries of protest as he gets out of the car, pulls the unconscious agents out, and ties them to one of the fence posts. He smashes their cell phones and takes their weapons, tucking one into the back of his jeans and the other into his coat.

"I'm sorry, Ma," is all he says before he starts to walk in the direction they came, adding over his shoulder, "And don't even think about calling them about this."

He disappears down the road and Angela sighs and sits back, trying to decide what to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is nothing but absolute fucking _darkness_. There is nothing to see, feel, think or hear where Gabriel is. He's dead. That's all there is to it. Although the fact that he's thinking these thoughts would maybe say otherwise. Regardless, nothing is happening, only vague, very vague electrical impulses dancing in his brain.

If he had the consciousness to do it, he would wonder if this was what hell was like, his punishment, but since he doesn't, he can't.

In what seems like a cliche moment, something inside of him snaps and he is violently brought back to life, heaving and sputtering, his whole body shaking as he bolts upright, holding a hand to his chest.

Standing in front of him, holding the hunting knife that used to be lodged into his brain, is Noah Bennett.

For a long time, Gabriel stares.

"I don't understand," he says at last.

Noah smiles and pulls a handkerchief from seemingly nowhere, using it to wipe the blood off of the knife.

"One day I came home from work," he says, tone calm and clinical, "And you weren't there. I fell asleep on the bed. When I woke up a few hours later, you had laid down next to me, but we were both sideways, and you were upside down."

A small smile begins to form on his face, but he doesn't make any movement to change.

"You woke up when I laughed, and we went back to sleep. The next morning, I woke up, and you were holding my hand."

Gabriel actually smiles and laughs out loud.

"Jesus, Peter. For a minute I was worried you weren't going to come back for me."

Peter winks and holds out a bloodied tissue.

"Ms. Collings had a bloody nose earlier and I swiped this for her DNA. Care to be someone else for a while?"

Gabriel takes the tissue and smiles, before morphing into the dream walker. Together, they leave the cell.

"What's your plan?" Gabriel whispers, and Peter shrugs.

"Get out of here? Without being noticed?"

They think their plan is going pretty well until they pass by an agent, who smiles at them, and a few seconds later, he turns back around with a confused, "Hey..."

Swearing under his breath, Peter pulls the pistol he had stolen from out of his coat pocket, holding it in front of him.

"Turn around!"

The agent is holding his gun in front of him, looking back and forth between two new impostors. He looks a little frightened, and Gabriel decides he must be new.

"I just saw you two downstairs, there is no way you beat me up here!"

"Now, James," Gabriel soothes, holding up both hands and reading the man's mind for answers, "We took the stairs, and you took the elevator. It's entirely possible."

James is not convinced.

"They said you have tricks, that you can convince me," he says, and Gabriel sighs.

"Look at me."

James does.

" ** _You will continue on like you did not see anything. You will go check on the prisoner's cell and he will be there, just like he was before. Understand?_** "

James' eyes seem glazed over and he nods, turning and walking away like the encounter didn't happen.

Peter nods in Gabriel's direction and they continue walking, taking the stairs to avoid suspicion.

A quick swipe of some of their surroundings and they're able to copy the DNA of some random agents, so that they can blend in more and be less conspicuous.

They make it out of the building with relatively no incidents, and Peter motions towards the security panel by the front doors.

"You have Micah's power, right?"

Gabriel shakes his head yes.

"Use it to set the building on lockdown. No one will be able to get out until they can override it, and by then, we'll be gone."

The taller man lifts up a hand and does so, and soon, the building hums to life as protective metal shades slide down over the doors, windows, and air vents.

Peter smiles, shifting back to his normal form, and Gabriel follows suit.

"Let's get out of here," he says, linking his hand with Gabriel so he can take flight. The tell-tale spark passes between them, and Peter's about to jump into the sky when they hear a loud "Not so fast!" behind them.

They both whirl around, lightening already sparking in Gabriel's palms.

Sophia Collings is holding what appears to be a large caliber gun. Before they can do anything, she fires two shots, one of which hits Peter in the shoulder, and the other of which hits Gabriel square in the forehead.

Peter swears as the other man's body falls, knowing it'll take a minute before he regenerates and gets back up. Clutching his shoulder with one hand while holding the gun he had stolen with the other, he glares at the woman standing in front of him.

"Why are you doing this?"

She shrugs, smiling a wicked smile.

"Because he's a murderer. Because you're the idiot who fell in love with him. Honestly, who cares anymore? I couldn't care less about the two of you."

She cocks the gun and holds it up straight at Peter.

"Drop the gun."

He stares her down for a minute before tossing it aside. She motions with her free hand.

"And the other one."

He throws that one away, too.

"Good." Sophia takes a step forward, a predatory gleam on her face not unlike the one that Gabriel used to wear when he was Sylar.

With a dull thunk the bullet is pushed from Gabriel's head, but before he can sit back up Sophia aims and shoots him again.

"God, he keeps coming back, doesn't he?" she muses, and sighs. "I'm going to kill you, Peter Petrelli, and your stupid lover over there, because I can."

She moves to stand in front of Peter, holding the gun almost against his forehead.

"Say goodbye," she taunts, and gets ready to pull the trigger. Peter stares her down, not letting himself be intimidated in his last few seconds, when suddenly, there's a loud noise and warm blood is spraying on his face.

He looks in surprise as Sophia's body falls to the ground and Noah Bennett is standing behind her, gun still raised as smoke pours from the barrel.

"Goodbye," he says, and Peter almost laughs at the absurdity of the whole thing.

"Thanks," he says, at last, and it's then he goes over to Gabriel and pulls his head into his lap, waiting for him to open his eyes again. Noah walks over to Sophia, kicking the gun in her hand away, and sighs. Quietly, Peter almost can make out him muttering, "I never did like her," but he's not sure. Noah turns to the other man.

"Aren't you glad I wasn't in there when you put it on lockdown?" he asks, motioning towards the building, and Peter smiles, leaning down to stroke at the unconscious man's hair.

In a few seconds, the other bullet is pushed from his head and he opens his eyes, popping up just a little with the sudden rush of life coming through him.

He takes one look at Peter and almost freaks out.

"I'm fine," Peter explains, motioning towards the fallen woman with his eyes.

He helps Gabriel stand and Noah hands Peter a handkerchief to wipe the blood off of his face with.

"Can you call my mom for me?" he asks, and Noah pulls his phone from his pocket and walks to the side to make the call, although Peter suspects it's more to give them privacy than anything.

Gabriel slides his hands together with Peter's.

"So now where to, Pete?"

Peter smiles and reaches up to push back some errant strand of hair that has dislodged himself from the taller man's coif.

"Anywhere but here." He frowns at the copious amounts of blood that were now staining both of their clothes.

"I know you said you weren't going to hurt anyone ever again, but you could have at least stopped them from shooting you so many times."

Gabriel shrugs.

"I was kind of more focused on making sure you didn't get hurt. Speaking of which," he gently begins to inspect Peter's arm and sighs.

"Does it hurt?" he asks, and Peter shakes his head.

"Yeah, but I've had worse. We can get it fixed up."

Peter wraps his non-injured arm around Gabriel's neck, and looks up at him with big eyes.

"Let's get out of h-" he's saying, except he gets cut off when two loud noises erupt in the air and Gabriel realizes with abject horror that Peter was slumping forward into his arms and he looks over and Sophia had crawled over and grabbed her gun while they were talking, and Gabriel's way too frozen to do anything before she raises her gun to take one last shot but suddenly there's an explosion of blood coming from her head and she falls back down, dead and Noah is standing there, smoke pouring from his gun and then he's helping Gabriel put Peter down on to the ground and taking his jacket off to use as a pillow and _the whole time Peter isn't moving_.

Noah is swearing under his breath and Gabriel knows deep down, he just _knows_ that something is wrong here but it's not until he sees the blood pooling from the shot that exited from his temple and the one that hit his back that the tears start to form in his eyes.

"Peter," he says, voice cracking, shaking the form in his arms lightly, but already Peter's eyes are glazing over as he stares off at nothing, mouth slightly agape, and Peter is too still, too pale, and Gabriel can't help the sobs that are starting to wrack his body.

"Jesus, Peter, don't leave me, please," he begs, but Peter is gone, he can feel it inside of him, and he pulls Peter into his arms and cries and cries, and vaguely he knows Noah is patting his back and trying to comfort him, but he knows, fuck, he _knows_ nothing is going to be okay after this.

"You could give him your blood," Noah suggests, softly, and Gabriel lifts his head up and gently slides his hand across Peter's face, closing his eyes.

"He made me promise I wouldn't," he whispers back, and cradles Peter in his arms.

After several minutes of silence, where Gabriel mourns and Noah stares at nothing, Gabriel looks up.

"I can't live like this, Noah. Not without him." He gently lays Peter down on the ground, using Noah's jacket for a pillow like before. "Please," he pleads, and Noah knows, without the other man saying it, what he means.

"I can't-" Noah begins, but the look on Gabriel's face makes him stop before he finishes the sentence.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

Gabriel nods, covering Peter's hands with his own.

"Yes. I'm not afraid."

Noah takes his gun from where he left it, but he doesn't make a move right away.

"If I make it stick, you'll be dead for good. You'll never come back. Why would you want that?"

Gabriel's eyes are suddenly dark, and sad, and empty and Noah's not sure what is the best thing to do. But all the same, he looks Noah straight in the eye and replies, "It feels like a part of my soul has been ripped away, and it stings. I know it won't get better. It never will."

At first, Noah seems to understand, but then, all of a sudden, a weird grin begins to spread across his face as he holds his gun to Gabriel's forehead.

"Good," he says, "Now you know how it feels."

A single shot rings out, and the world goes black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere in the middle of the countryside in Canada, Matt Parkman stands next to a wooden box. He holds a shovel in one hand and a cell phone in the other.

"Are you ready?" a voice is asking him on the other side, and he nods, even though the caller can't see it.

"I'm ready to bury it now. Are you sure this is what you want, Angela?"

The elder Petrelli sighs and Matt doesn't even need his ability to hear the heartbreak in her voice.

"Matthew, that monster murdered one of my sons and caused my other one to be killed. He deserves this."

Her tone causes a part of Matt to cringe, as he remembers all too well the funeral a few weeks ago. Peter had been a good friend of his, until he ruined his plan to trap Sylar in his mind forever.

Luckily, in some roundabout way, Peter's death brought on the opportunity for him to force Sylar back into his own head, into a nightmare that would play over and over again for as long as Sylar would live (which, provided the apocalypse didn't come soon, would be forever). Although instead of leaving him in a world where everyone else was dead, he left him in a world where his Peter would die over and over again his arms, so he could feel the heartbreak on repeat for the rest of his measly existence. Adding the actual way that Peter died as a dream and making himself a hero in this nightmare was actually very clever, if Matt did say so himself, although he didn't expect the dreaming man to ever realize this.

What Matt wanted the most, though, was for him to understand exactly the heartbreak he forced on hundreds of people whose loved ones he murdered in cold blood. Including Angela Petrelli, now missing her husband and both her sons.

He turns his attention back to the woman on the phone.

"We could just kill him for real, Angela. Burn him like the shapeshifter. Then we don't have to go through all this." Vaguely, he motions towards the box in front of him and the large hole next to him.

"That's the easy way out. I want that... _monster_ to relive his tragedy over and over again, so he can understand how much it hurt me when he took my sons away from me."

Although he can hear the venom in the older woman's voice, he's not quite convinced. Switching the phone to his other ear, he muses, "I think the real reason is the same reason you wanted me to turn him into Nathan. You know a part of Peter is still trapped inside Sylar's mind from when he went inside it to rescue him and it would kill you for it to die, wouldn't it?"

There's no answer and Matt knows he's won. He eyes the moon shining nearby and sighs.

"So what does the new company have to say about this? Does Bennett know?"

Angela's tone seems faraway, but she concedes, "They know but they don't care. As long as Sylar is taken care of they could care less who did it or how. Besides, I'm sure Noah is more than happy that the man who keeps harassing his daughter is gone."

Matt nods and takes one last look at the sky before picking the shovel back up with one hand.

"I'm going to finish the job now, Angela, but I'm going to leave a special marker. You'll know what it will look like because you'll dream it. If you change your mind...you know what to do."

There isn't even a half second pause before she's interrupting, "I won't change my mind. Goodbye, Parkman."

She hangs up and Matt sighs, slipping his phone back into his jacket. It takes some shoving, but he manages to push the box into the hole he dug, then slowly starts to pile dirt on top of it. Once everything is soothed away so it's not suspicious, he picks up a small rock from his pocket and buries it lightly into the ground over the spot he just covered up.

Without so much a look back, he leaves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hundred years later, in a forest somewhere in North America, a man is sleeping, dreaming of sunshine and heartbreak and the man he loves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT I SAID THIS HAD A SAD ENDING

**Author's Note:**

> Written a few years back on LJ. Winner of an award. Whoo hey! Who knew?


End file.
